After visiting Waipiro Bay we were keen to go and see Tokomaru Bay further down the east coast as I had read about the ruins of the old freezing works there.

The Tokomaru Sheepfarmers’ Freezing Company Ltd opened the works in 1911 after a group of local farmers raised the money for its construction. Many of the bricks used in the buildings were made at a local brickworks.

A small locomotive was built to link the freezing works with the wharf where up to 400 ships a year arrived to collect frozen sheep carcasses.